


we don't need a legacy

by Slumber



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Missing Scenes, Mujinazaka High, Post-Timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 09:28:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber
Summary: In his last year of high school, Mami Nozomu learns just how unforgiving the bright fluorescent lights of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium can be.Unnan and Mami in the years after the Interhigh.
Relationships: Unnan Keisuke/Mami Nozomu
Comments: 32
Kudos: 42





	we don't need a legacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [salt_over_papercuts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/salt_over_papercuts/gifts), [kitcassiachan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitcassiachan/gifts).



> Andy said, "have you heard about the sweet gospel of Unmami" complete with [their two manga panels](https://twitter.com/slumberish/status/1313273400249507841) and Kit and I said "FIC WHERE" so here we are.
> 
> Also written for the #hq69min prompt: Return

In his last year of high school, Mami Nozomu's team returns to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to win the Spring Interhigh. 

That's how it was supposed to go, anyway. That's the story their team is supposed to get. They worked and practiced and played hard for the last three years—Kiryuu harder and more doggedly than anyone else Mami had ever seen—so why shouldn't they? They had a strong team, a contender in all respects. He and Unnan had honed their defense to round out the team's offensive firepower, turning Mujinazaka into a more well-rounded team than ever before.

And for the first two matches, it felt like the years they spent toiling away after hours, at training camps, in the early morning workouts, would finally bear fruit.

Then they ran into a fired up Fukurodani team that squashed that sports anime ending in three sets.

In his last year of high school, Mami Nozomu learns just how unforgiving the bright fluorescent lights of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium can be.

* * *

"I think, ultimately, we weren't like, the underdog enough," Mami muses out loud, watching day three of the 2014 Spring Interhigh tournament. There are a couple of matches happening but Unnan had no interest in cheering for Mujinazaka at their third consecutive match, so they'd gone over to watch the Karasuno-Inarizaki rematch. 

Unnan frowns at him. "The hell are you talking about?"

"Last year," Mami says with a shrug. "You know, Kiryuu's pretty good. You're pretty good, I'm pretty good, we've all been pretty good from the beginning, right? Kiryuu's a top ace in the _nation_. We were the _Twin Towers_ _of Mujinazaka_. We weren't written to be the protagonists of our story."

"Because we were _good_?" Unnan asks, baffled. "What kind of shitty story is that?"

"You ever like reading about the team that's expected to win?" 

"Yes, because I happen to like winning." Unnan shrugs. "It's sports, dumbass, not a drama. You win and lose because of luck and practice, don't need to overthink it and blame some unseen mangaka in the sky for writing you into a bit part."

Mami hums, unconvinced. But Unnan's not gonna try to argue him out of it, unless he says anything else that he can shoot down right away. He's just a jerk like that. 

"Alright," Unnan says after a while, and apparently he's been giving it some thought, "Say you're right, okay? Fukurodani didn't even win. We weren't even good enough to be the antagonists to the protagonists?"

Mami wrinkles his nose. "I don't like that either."

"I told you," Unnan says. "That's a shitty story."

* * *

Mami only ever goes back to watch the Spring Interhigh as a college freshman. It's good for giving moral support to their old juniors, but if he keeps going back then it's just like he's the sad college kid who never grew out of high school.

But he does come back to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium his junior year for the All Japan Intercollegiate Tournament.

"We're gonna crush you," Unnan tells him from the other side of the net. Their hands are clasped in a hard grip, their smiles all teeth and no mercy. 

"Nice 'do," Mami tells him, his lips twitching at the spikes Unnan had styled into his hair. "You know that doesn't count as that extra centimeter you've been wanting since second year high school, right?"

"Ishihara Satomi will never love you," Unnan bites back.

 _Oh_ , Mami thinks. _We're on._

* * *

It's a funny quirk of the way V. League games work that means, despite being based in Tokyo, the Japan Railway Warriors don't actually _play_ in Tokyo until almost halfway through the season, when they finally have a match sponsored in their home city for the weekend.

"You wanna go say hi to Kiryuu?" Mami asks Unnan, poking his head into the locker room to see if he's ready yet. 

"Why?" Unnan asks, stretching on the ground, the teal and white of his Railway Warriors jacket zipped up to his chin, kneepads covering up to his thighs. "Aren't we grabbing drinks with him after the game?"

"Yeah but that doesn't have to be the _only_ time we talk to him."

Unnan blinks. "Why?" he asks again, and Mami remembers, again, that this was Unnan he was talking to. 

"See you before the game, then," he says with a shake of his head before he makes his way down the gym to go find their old teammate.

Their stint as rivals had lasted only as long as their college years—though both had offers from different teams, the Railway Warriors had been interested in reuniting them to shore up their team's weaknesses in defense, and had offered them similar contract terms and conditions. Unnan had always said that he wasn't the type to look back and repeat things for the sentimentality of it, and while Mami counted himself a more decent human being than Unnan, he understood what he meant.

But they had four more years of playing apart now than they had before, and together they'd always played better than the sum of their parts.

 _It doesn't have to be a step back_ , Mami had said. _What can we do together now?_

* * *

"Why are we watching volleyball when we're not playing?" Unnan groans into his palm, resting his chin against it afterward.

Mami rolls his eyes. He catches Ezota's bemused gaze, the uncertain looks Usuri and Hondo give each other. "I hope you're all remembering not to take him too seriously," he tells them, the small group of old Mujinazaka teammates up in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium stands gathered together to cheer the Green Rockets on as they play for the championship against the Adlers. 

Ezota nods. "I almost forgot, but now it's coming back to me."

"Wow, since when did you have a mouth on you?" Unnan snipes, deadpan. 

"Wait a second, hang on here, I thought we were also here for a send-off?" Hondo asks, eyes widening at the look Mami throws him.

Unnan's gaze narrows, his face turning to Mami. "What send-off?" he asks.

"Oh, right, it was supposed to be a surprise," Hondo mutters behind him.

Unnan's attention is only on Mami. "I told you I didn't want a—"

"You were just gonna leave Japan and not tell them?" Mami asks.

"We barely talk as it is!" 

"No offense, guys," Mami asks. "He still hasn't been socialized enough as an adult."

"None taken," Ezota says. And because he's remembering what it's like to Unnan, he adds, "It's only drinks, you know."

"We promise not to cry or anything," Hondo asks.

Mami keeps his eyes on Unnan, so he sees when his resistance begins to crumble. "Hey, don't freak out," he tells him, low so only Unnan can hear. "We're not that kind of team, alright?"

* * *

"You really, really didn't have to do that," Unnan tells him later, stumbling into his apartment as Mami follows. He's mumbling over his words, the smell of alcohol strong on his breath.

Mami holds out a hand, catching him by the waist before he trips over his own genkan. "Did you hate it, though?" he asks.

Unnan doesn't say anything—it _had_ just been drinks, some small bites to eat, their small group of oversized players squeezing into a tiny booth in a bar, just shooting the shit like the old days—and that's answer enough for Mami. 

"Just figured the guys would wanna hang out while we all still can, that's all," Mami says, pausing when Unnan grabs his wrist to stop him from turning the lights on.

"No need," he says. "You know your way around, don't you?"

Mami nods, though he's sure Unnan can't see that. But he does pull Unnan close as he falls back against the wall, lets Unnan press liquor-sweet lips to his own as his palms catch on the waistband of Unnan's pants, hands curling around the curve of his hips. "We should—" he gasps when he's able to pull away to breathe— "At least the bed—"

"Don't be so prissy," Unnan says, falling to his knees and guiding Mami's hand to grab at his hair, this time. 

Mami takes in a deep breath. Closes his eyes at the heat of Unnan's mouth wrapping tight around him. "What did I—" he starts to say, losing his train of thought and the last traces of coherence to Unnan's tongue, and his fingers, splayed against his thighs, hot against his skin. " _Kei_ —"

* * *

"What was that for?" Mami wants to know, once they've made it to Unnan's bed, the sheets tangled around their legs, arms wrapped around each other, Mami's nose buried in Unnan's hair. "M'gonna feel that for days, you know. Fuck."

"Good," Unnan murmurs, half-asleep. "You're supposed to feel it for a whole season."

Mami laughs. "What the fuck? That's a little ambitious, don't you think?" 

Unnan's reply is garbled, half-coherent. But Mami thinks he hears him say, "S'for until I come back."

"Alright," he sighs, stroking Unnan's hair, but he's already asleep. It's fine. It helps Mami say the next bit out loud, even if it's just between him and the night. "Guess I could give you something to return to."

**Author's Note:**

> I woke up this morning without knowing how to spell Mujinazaka and with no knowledge of Unnan and Mami's existence. Look how far we've come since then. This feels like there's a moral hidden somewhere, please let me know if you find it.
> 
> Anyway. Thank you for making it all the way here AND for giving this a shot!
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated ♥ If you liked what you've read, you can [share it on Twitter](https://twitter.com/slumberish/status/1313310423333171201). I've also written a handful of [other Haikyuu!! fics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/works?fandom_id=758208).


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